The present disclosure relates, in general, to surgery, and in particular, to a surgical transaction or cutting tool which may be used to cut tissue alone or as a part of surgical tissue cutting and fastening instrument.
During many surgical procedures, it is common to use a tissue fastening and cutting device, such as a linear cutter, for fastening and transecting tissue in order to resect the tissue and achieve hemostasis by placing a plurality of laterally spaced rows of staples on opposite sides of a tissue cut or tissue transection line. Surgical fastening and cutting instruments are generally used to make a longitudinal incision in tissue and apply lines of staples on opposing sides of the incision. Such instruments commonly include an end effector having a pair of cooperating jaw members that, if the instrument is intended for endoscopic or laparoscopic applications, are capable of passing through a cannula passageway. One of the jaw members receives a staple cartridge having at least two laterally spaced rows of staples. The other jaw member defines an anvil having staple-forming pockets aligned with the rows of staples in the cartridge. The instrument includes a plurality of reciprocating wedges that, when driven distally, pass through openings in the staple cartridge and engage drivers supporting the staples to effect the firing of the staples toward the anvil. A cutting instrument is drawn distally along the jaw member so that the clamped tissue is cut and fastened (e.g., stapled).
An example of a surgical fastening and cutting instrument suitable for endoscopic applications is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,818, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENT HAVING SEPARATE DISTINCT CLOSING AND FIRING SYSTEMS, which issued on Feb. 21, 2006, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. In use, a clinician is able to close the jaw members of the instrument upon tissue to position the tissue prior to firing. Once the clinician has determined that the jaw members are properly gripping tissue, the clinician can then fire the surgical instrument, thereby severing and stapling the tissue. An example of a Motor-driven surgical fastening and cutting instrument is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,416,101, entitled “MOTOR-DRIVEN SURGICAL CUTTING AND FASTENING INSTRUMENT WITH LOADING FORCE FEEDBACK, which issued on Aug. 26, 2008, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.